By Richard McColl
BOGOTA
All travelers from Western African countries that have been affected by the Ebola outbreak will be denied entry to Colombia, the government announced Wednesday.
Control and verification of visas and passport stamps will be reviewed by Migracion Colombia, the border control service, at all international airports and any individual who traveled to affected areas within the past four weeks will be turned away. Citizens of 92 countries do not require a visa to enter Colombia, prompting the Ministry of Health to immediately invoke the ban.
Colombia has yet to record any cases of the virus but two men are currently isolated after having recently traveled to Liberia or Sierra Leone, according to Minister of Health Alejandro Gaviria. One of the men “is still within the 21-day incubation period but has not as yet displayed any symptoms,” Gaviria said during a press conference.
The aim of the isolation and observation period is to ensure the public safety.
The second case placed health authorities in the southern city of Cali on high alert Wednesday after a 38-year-old engineer arrived in Colombia after traveling to West Africa.
“This citizen spent three months in Equatorial Guinea, where he was working as a topographer. This country is distant to the outbreak zone but we have followed the necessary safety and preventative procedures,” said Cali’s municipal health director Harold Suarez while speaking to El Espectador newspaper.
Health officials confirmed that the patient has a fever and diarrhea, and will be monitored until it is determined that he poses no threat to the pubic.
There has been no recorded cases of Ebola in South America but countries in the region, including neighboring Panama, in Central America, are increasing their screening processes as a precaution.
www.aa.com.tr/en
